While some physicians, dentists, and other medical professionals have begun to issue electronic prescriptions for their patients, many still issue prescriptions written or printed on paper for any of a variety of reasons. For example, the physician may not have the capability to transmit electronic prescriptions, or the patient's preferred pharmacy may not have the capability to receive them. In other instances, the physician or the patient may simply prefer paper prescriptions over electronic ones. Some physicians or pharmacies, in addition, may operate remotely or via mail-order and require paper prescriptions. Furthermore, patients may prefer to refill prescriptions using the prescription information printed on a pill-bottle or other medication label or may need to if their original prescription information is lost or missing.
Filling a paper prescription, however, may be more difficult than filling an electronic prescription; it usually requires that the patient make an in-person visit to a pharmacy to initiate filling and then a second visit to pick up the prescribed medication. Making a trip to initiate filling may be inconvenient or difficult for the patient and may cause the patient to delay filling the prescription or even avoid it entirely, thus delaying or not even initiating taking of his or her prescribed medication. A need therefore exists for a more convenient and simpler way for patients to fill paper prescriptions.